


You're (Not) Cool!

by makichan



Series: Locker Room Bulletin Board [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Prompt Fill, locker room bulletin board, locker room bulletin board 10.19.2014
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-22
Updated: 2014-10-22
Packaged: 2018-02-22 03:10:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2492282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/makichan/pseuds/makichan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: The story of how Tanaka and Nishinoya became best friends</p>
            </blockquote>





	You're (Not) Cool!

It’s one thing to hear about a person, and then actually see them in person. Even with all the information, even with all the facts that someone can imagine in their head, nothing is actually the same when two people physically meet for the first time.

Tanaka knew this. He knew it well. But, this libero kid was something else. Short, loud, a booming laugh for such a tiny guy. It was just weird.

And, yeah, liberos are supposed to be short, right? It helps them, or something, right?

But wasn’t that Nishinoya kid a little too short?

Was he even really a high schooler?

Those were the questions that entered Tanaka’s mind the first time he so much as got a glimpse of Nishinoya Yuu, apparent libero extraordinare.

And _maybe_ they were the questions that exited his mouth. 

And _maybe_ they were kind of loud.

Ok, they were _really_ loud. 

And they were asked in front of the entire Karasuno first year line up in the gym.

Of course, Nishinoya got flustered, pointing an accusatory finger in Tanaka’s direction and shouting something about his height not being permanent. He _was_ a growing boy, after all.

Growing or not, Tanaka didn’t blame the kid (because, let’s face it, he was a kid) for getting angry. Once again, his big mouth had gotten him into trouble. He’d always been told he lacked…what was it his sister called it?

Oh yeah. Tact.

Tact and a brain.

“And another thing!” Nishinoya had shouted from behind Azumane and Sawamura, currently responsible for stopping him from grabbing Tanaka’s shirt by the collar and pulling him down to eye level. “I bet you aren’t including my hair! My hair adds an extra ten centimeters!”

Tanaka hadn’t thought to include the kid’s hair because why would he? It’s hair. _And_ , even with the hair, the kid was still really, really short.

“Tanaka, you should apologize,” was the scolding that came from one of the senpai (Sugasomething or other). “You really can’t be causing trouble like this when you aren’t even on the team yet.” The tone was a little more than condescending and damn, if it didn’t feel like he was being scolded by a parent.

He was about to mumble his apologies when a girl walked into the gym. A pretty girl. A girl with flowing dark hair and really beautiful pale skin and cute glasses and Jesus Christ, it was love at first sight.

“Who is that?!” he hissed to one of the upperclassmen, scooting for a better angle of his future wife and completely ignoring the fact that he really should be apologizing.

“Oh, that’s Shimizu. She’s the manager. She’s really co—“

“Kiyoko-san!”

Before Tanaka even knew what was happening, Nishinoya was bounding up to Shimizu like a puppy, all wide eyes and wide grin. “You look wonderful today, Kiyoko-san!”

It would be a lie to say that Tanaka didn’t breathe a sigh of relief when the manager simply looked down at the libero before promptly turning on her heel and going to the equipment room. Despite her obvious rejection, Nishinoya looked like he’d just been sent to heaven and, frankly, Tanaka could understand why. Just to have a girl like that look at him would be good enough that he could die on the spot.

Still, that was totally his future wife and that shorty was going to ruin things for him if he wasn’t careful.

He wasn’t thinking when his feet began to move towards the equipment room on their own, earning a curious stare from his newfound rival. “Kiyoko-senpai! That’s such a pretty name! My name is Tanaka Ryuunosuke! You’re really beautiful!”

For the second time in the span of about a minute, Shimizu simply stared at what appeared to be another person who wouldn’t leave her alone ever again. A blink of long lashes, brow furrowed to express how uncomfortable she was with this new hero worshipper, and she was off to the equipment room again.

Tanaka immediately wrapped his arms around himself. That Nishinoya kid might not be tall, but he sure had good taste in women.

“She’s mine, you know.” The voice was low, dangerous. It was a warning and it made Tanaka turn with the scariest face he could make.

“Excuse me? Shrimp?”

“She wouldn’t like a freak monk looking guy like you, anyways! She’d like someone like me! Someone cool!”

Tanaka barely got a good lunge in before Sawamura was dragging him by the collar backwards. “Just practice, ok?” The most horrifying expression Tanaka could come up with had nothing on this guy’s face. 

Mental note: Never piss off this Sawamura guy again.

Death glare fresh in his mind, Tanaka set up on the opposite side of the net from Nishinoya. He seemed even smaller with distance, like there was no way he could hit the ball even if it came right to him. Sure, liberos were supposed to be short, or at least that was what he heard. That didn’t cancel out the fact that volleyball was a game of height, and one both he and Nishinoya would lose at.

It was almost disheartening. The game was brutal, probably more so now that he was in high school. In middle school, it was just fun; a pass time. Being at Karasuno was different though. There was a reputation to uphold. Even if the team wasn’t great—hell, a far cry from what it had been in the past—there was still the _legend_ of Karasuno itself. And he had to live up to it, even if it meant dealing with some shithead libero.

_Just spike the ball as hard as you can. That’s how you’ll succeed_

So he did, slamming it down once the ball was pushed from the setter’s hands. And it should have thrown that Noya kid off. It should have been on the ground and that kid should have been over-reacting, saying that Tanaka was cheating or something stupid like that.

But it didn’t. It soared over his head, hit the ground behind him.

It was Tanaka that was left staring.

“Tanaka! We’re practicing receives for a reason. Don’t just watch the ball! Get it back over the net.” He nodded in understanding, but it shouldn’t have been back on his side. That was his best spike, the one he’d worked tirelessly on for months. Sure, he wasn’t the strongest guy, but he knew how to send the ball down with power.

So, he tried it again, watching each time as the ball came back over, barely getting a chance to toss it back because he kept staring and thinking _what the fuck was this kid doing and how was he still receiving and getting it to the spiker on the other side?_

“Seriously, Tanaka?! You’re just gonna stand there while the ball comes back over to your side of the net?! Take a break. Come back on the court when you get your thumb out of your ass.”

The look of superiority that floated over from Nishinoya was far too obvious for Tanaka to miss. He trudged over to the wall, slumping down to watch the rest of the team play the game he should be playing.

Still, what was up with that libero? How could someone so small be so good?

With great focus, Tanaka watched as Nishinoya dove for ball after ball, never letting it hit the ground once. Soon, the second and third years were joining, spiking the ball down only to have an arm that seemed to grow toss it back into the air. Sometimes the ball was short, and Nishinoya would apologize immediately. Still, it went in the air every single time.

A feeling of awe swept over Tanaka as he re-entered the court, more determined than ever to succeed against this surprising wall.

\--

“Damn! How is he so good?” Tanaka panted, hands on his knees.

A fellow first year tilted his head at the question. “Didn’t you know? Nishinoya-san was given an award last year for being the best libero.”

He might as well have told Tanaka that fish were suddenly growing the ability to talk, the way he started yelling and running around.

“Are you kidding me?! I disrespected such a cool guy?! Noya-saaaaan!” And with that, he was running to the libero at full speed. 

Like any sane person would do if they saw someone with a kind of scary face running towards you, Nishinoya immediately prepared for a fight. “I’ll hit you, you monk freak! Don’t come any closer!” Fists were up, ready to strike if necessary.

Punches were never thrown, though, because Tanaka was bowing deeply before Nishinoya had a chance to even wind up. “I’m sorry for my earlier behavior! I didn’t know you were such a cool guy! Please forgive me!”

Tanaka was met with silence, and then the loud booming laugh he was coming to appreciate. “You’re alright, Ryuu! Since you’re finally recognizing my abilities, I’ll treat you to ice cream!”

“Noya-san! You’re so cool!”

“And then I’ll teach you my super cool new move: Rolling Thunder!”

**Author's Note:**

> *rips off shirt* I LOVE THESE TWO SO MUCH AND I LOVED WRITING THIS. Tanaka and Nishinoya are the kind of characters I love, but the kind of people I would get annoyed with in real life. Or I would join in their ridiculous shenanigans. They're just so fun and cool.


End file.
